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AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info: maildrop62 at proton dot me
Building a Threadripper workstation and need lots of fast memory but also want ECC? V-Color has you covered. (Serve the Home)
192GB at DDR5-7200 speeds.
Though you only get full speed if you have one DIMM per channel, so if you need more (and your motherboard has more than four slots) it will slow down.
"It has happened," wrote developer Arian van Putten in a social media post over the weekend. "The number one Google result was an official Pulumi documentation page that was clearly written by an LLM (it had a disclaimer that it was) and hallucinated an AWS feature that didn't exist. This is the beginning of the end."
Pulumi, the company generating the AI results, has been very responsive to the problem, has taken down two thirds of the pages and is reviewing the remainder for incorrect answers.
Google meanwhile offered the cannedest of canned replies.
Bing, meanwhile... Didn't have the same problem. So score one for Microsoft.
You will now be required to sign up to the PlayStation Network to play the game on Windows. The PlayStation Network is only available in about half one third of the countries of the world.
This is from Captain Marvel Adventures #16 (1942) What I find interesting is that while the Steamboat character (and all black characters except Steamboat's girlfriend) is drawn in a style that would be unacceptable today, none of them is depicted doing any stereotypical 1940s "negro things" (like eating fried chicken and watermelon, etc...). The Japanese soldiers Captain Marvel fights earlier in the issue are also drawn in a very stereotypical (slanty eyes and buck teeth) manner. Plus there's an article titled A Dead Jap Is A Good Jap. Different times.
The present day country of Turkey is home to many well-known megalithic sites such as Gobekli Tepe, Hattusha and Midas Kenti, but it is also home to a much lesser known yet equally impressive ancient site known as "Kapilikaya."
Located about 27 kilometers north of the city of Corum and hidden away inside a mountainous outcropping is an ancient structure known as the "Tomb of Kapilikaya."
[It] is thought to be a tomb of the Hellenistic period, dating back to approximately the 2nd century B.C.
Rising above a gentle stream that flows beneath on the forest floor, a steep trail winds up the left side of the rock outcropping and eventually leads to a platform of stairs located directly in front of the tomb.
The tomb is not simply a door shaped façade but is actually a cube shaped structure cut out of the mountain, only connecting to the natural rock around it at a few points.
From inside you can actually walk all the way around it or climb up onto its top.
The inner chamber of the tomb can only be accessed through entering a small square opening about halfway up the face of the structure.
An inscription above the entrance reads "IKEZIOS," 2 which some believe is attributed to an ancient commander named Ikezius.
A video posted on social media by James O'Keefe features Amjad Anton Fseisi, purported to be the project manager for cyber operations at the CIA. In the video, the undercover reporter for O'Keefe Media Group gets Fseisi to admit that several intelligence agencies deliberately withheld information from Trump out of some absurd fear that he might "disclose it." Fseisi is seen in the recording admitting that intelligence agencies "all got together and said, 'We're not gonna tell Trump.'"
"The executive staff," Fseisi said in response to a question about who specifically was involved in the decision.
"We're talking about the director and his subordinates." That would include Pompeo and Haspel.
According to Fseisi, the intelligence agencies "kept information from [Trump] because we knew he'd f***ing disclose it."
"There are certain people that would... give him a high-level overview but never give him any details. You know why? Because he'll leak those details."
And can you guess why Fseisi says Trump would leak sensitive information? Because Trump is... wait for it... a Russian asset!
"He's a Russian asset," Fseisi claimed. "He's owned by the f***ing Russians."
But there's more.
"Amjad reveals to OMG's Undercover American Swiper that intel agencies not only kept intelligence information from a sitting United States President and Commander-In-Chief, they also used FISA to spy on [Donald Trump]," O'Keefe says on X/Twitter. "And his team and [sic] are still monitoring President Trump according to Amjad who says, 'We monitor everything.' Amjad adds 'we also have people that monitor his ex-wife. He likes to use burner phones' -- information only an insider with access to highly sensitive information would state."
...
When O'Keefe confronted Fseisi on the streets of Washington, D.C., he denied making the statements in the above video.
Video at the link.
Rep. Matt Gaetz
@RepMattGaetz
BREAKING: I'm formally calling on the @Weaponization Subcommittee to immediately launch an investigation into @OKeefeMedia Group's bombshell report containing video evidence that American intelligence agencies withheld intelligence from President Donald Trump before & during his presidency and used Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities to spy on President Trump.
Here's an interesting and troubling fact: so-called "recovering FBI agent" Kyle Seraphim chose this moment, just as O'Keefe was readying this report, to make an insane and likely defamatory attack on O'Keefe:
As Viva Frei says, maybe this "recovering FBI agent" fell off the wagon.
He also had an insane attack on O'Keefe -- who's a single man -- for flirting in DMs with a woman he seemed to be having sex with.
Seraphin was scandalized that O'Keefe might be putting his pee-pee inside a woman he wasn't married to. Therefore we should #cancel him from the movement (just as he was working on this CIA story, which Seraphin is scrambling to debunk).
Part 2: When your employees are required to comb through your Direct Messages, they might avoid your "girlfriend" and the explicit messages between "two consenting adults."
Palestine protestors and counter-protesters at the University of Alabama found a moment of unity in their shared disapproval of President Joe Biden, together chanting "f*** Joe Biden" in a now-viral video.
A new poll from Rassmussen puts Trump up by 10 in a three way race, 46% to 36%. RFJJr. picks up 9%.
Trump leads with 18-39-year-olds by two points, 36 to 34 percent.
Trump earns 21 percent of the black vote, while Biden earns just 61 percent. That number should be closer to 90 percent.
Only 70 percent of Democrats support Biden. Trump earns 16 percent Democrat support.
Trump earns 80 percent Republican support. Biden sits at ten percent.
In a five-way match-up between Trump, Biden, the Green Party's Jill Stein, Kennedy Jr., and former Harvard Professor Cornel West, The Donald's lead jumps to 12 points over Slow Joe, 48 to 36 percent. Kennedy pulls eight percent support. Stein and West top out at a single point.
In this five-way race, Trump's lead over Biden with Hispanics jumps to 15 points, 45 to 30 percent.
"Despite being on trial in New York City, former President Donald Trump has widened his lead over President Joe Biden during the past month," says the pollster.
Related: Karine Jean-Pierre was asked why Biden doesn't speak up about the anti-semitism on college campuses.
She said that he spoke out about Charlottesville, so he didn't have to call out antisemtism now.
AP’s @ZekeJMiller: “And then, here at home, there's been some dramatic images really across the country over the last 24-48 hours, especially with the Columbia — UCLA last night University of Madison, Wisconsin, um other campuses. Has the President been monitoring this and why… pic.twitter.com/9V8yYOCpoO
is Houck
@CurtisHouck
AP's @ZekeJMiller
: "And then, here at home, there's been some dramatic images really across the country over the last 24-48 hours, especially with the Columbia -- UCLA last night University of Madison, Wisconsin, um other campuses. Has the President been monitoring this and why have we not heard directly from the President about these protests that have taken over its institutions of higher learning across the country, the police responses, instances of violence? Why haven't we heard directly from the President?"
KJP: "So, just a couple of things. The President is -- is being kept regularly updated on what's happening. Uh, as you just stated, across the country, he is monitoring the situation closely, so is his team. And I would just add that no President -- no president has spoken more forcefully about combating anti-Semitism than this President . Let's not forget in 2017. He was very clear what we saw -- the anti-Semitic vile that we saw in Charlottesville -- on the streets of Charlottesville. He called that out. He called that out. And one of the reasons he stepped into the 2020 election is because of what he saw, -- is because he wanted to -- uh -- he wanted to speak out and speak against what we were seeing in this country at that time -- uh -- democracy was under attack. Our freedoms were under attack, and we're still fighting for that today, obviously, but it -- he hasn't just done that by speaking. As you heard from my topper, he's taken action. He's taken action by moving forward with the first ever U.S. national strategy to counter anti-Semitism, more than 100 new actions -- uh -- have -- were introduced, obviously, in that strategy, and that is how seriously this President takes it. Uh, and I think what's important here is that he's taken action on this issue."
Very fine people on both sides were chanting, "Fuck Joe Biden."
He made a bunch of statements that are very helpful to Trump.
First of all, he made it clear that Stormy Daniels was pressuring Trump to pay her off or else she'd go public with her claims.
This is called "blackmail" in most jurisdictions. Jurors may well wonder who the victim is here. Surely not the "New York state political disclosure laws."
The ex-lawyer of adult film actress Stormy Daniels testified Thursday that he thought Donald Trump was "going to lose" the 2016 presidential election, and pressed trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to settle the payment before losing "leverage."
During the final rounds of questioning to Daniel's lawyer, Keith Davidson, he admitted he spoke to Cohen, pressing him to settle the $130,000 payment to Daniels to quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with Trump in 2006, before the 2016 election. He said Trump "will lose", and subsequently his client would lose her leverage. Trump has denied every having the affair.
That phone call was described as intense and full of expletives. Trump's defense team is hoping to connect that call with Davidson's alleged pattern of squeezing people for money during vulnerable times.
Well, yeah.
Next, for reasons I'm not clear on, the sleazebag extortionist insisted that the payments to Stormy Daniels were not hush money at all.
The jury doesn't have to accept his claim. But the Soros DA is claiming Trump covered up "hush money" payments, and the party who negotiated those payments (or extorted them) says they weren't hush money payments at all.
They were just "consideration." The quid for the quo of Stormy Daniels not carrying through with her blackmail threat.
Davidson earlier Thursday said that the $130,000 payment to Daniels was not "hush money," but a "consideration" payment.
Consideration" is a contractual legal term for what someone gives in return for the promise to abide by a contract; in this case, money. The payment was labeled "legal fees" in Trump's accounting, which prosecutors allege amounted to fraud.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Johsua Steinglass earlier pressed Davidson about Daniels' statement, which Davidson prepared for his client, that denied any relationship with Trump and said that her only interaction with Trump was "a few public appearances and nothing more."
"Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false," the statement says."I don't believe that Stormy ever alleged that any interaction with Trump was 'romantic,'" Davidson testified Thursday.
But it is his understanding that Daniels had a sexual encounter with Trump.He also said the payment "wasn't a payoff.""It wasn't a payoff. And it wasn't hush money. It was consideration," Davidson said. Davidson added that he would never use "hush money" to describe the money exchange. He would only refer to it as "consideration."
Finally, the extortionist revealed reasons to doubt the Soros DA's "star witness" Michael Cohen. Cohen was so distraught that Trump was not taking him to DC that he considered suicide.
That is a huge motive to lie to get vengeance.
"Can you f---ing believe I'm not going to Washington after everything I've done for that guy. I can't believe I'm not going to Washington...I've save[d] his a--..."Cohen told Davidson. According to Davidson, Cohen wanted to be Attorney General or White House chief of staff.
Davidson testified that he thought Cohen was so distressed that he wasn't going to work in the Trump administration that he might kill himself.
Trump continues thwarting the Democrats' scheme to keep him too tied up in court to do any campaigning:
President Biden's administration on Friday formalized a new policy of opening Obamacare health insurance exchanges to people who arrived illegally in the US as children who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.
The change, pending since last year, is projected to ease access to insurance and federal subsidies for roughly 100,000 uninsured DACA status holders and could soften the blow to pro-immigration advocates if Biden tries to curb record-high illegal immigration before the Nov. 5 election.
"This landmark final rule will make DACA recipients eligible for the Affordable Care Act coverage for the first time. It is projected to help more than 100,000 DACA recipients gain coverage," an administration official said on a press call.
"By providing new opportunities for quality, affordable care healthcare, this rule will give DACA recipients that peace of mind and opportunity that every American deserves."
The DACA program was created in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama when the DREAM Act failed to pass the Senate and grants eligible applicants access to deportation protection and work permits.
In 2017, President Donald Trump attempted to scrap DACA while saying Congress should approve a similar program. The Supreme Court overruled him in 2020.
There were fewer than 600,000 DACA recipients as of last year, down from a peak of more than 700,000.
Immigration is one of the 81-year-old Biden's top liabilities in his anticipated rematch against Trump, who is vowing to launch a mass deportation campaign after unprecedented illegal immigration under Biden.
Under Biden, most people who illegally cross the Mexican border are allowed to enter the US to pursue asylum claims in a move Republicans say encourages others to follow.
Shortly after taking office, Biden halted construction of Trump's US-Mexico border wall and terminated the "Remain in Mexico" policy that required asylum seekers to await rulings on their claims of persecution south of the border.
The DACA benefits expansion comes amid reporting that Biden may seek to demonstrate a tougher approach to the border as polling shows the issue as a major election liability.
An Associated Press poll last month found that 56% of respondents said Biden made "immigration and border security" worse.
We editorialized about this last year, when the idea was first floated by President Biden, noting that it confirmed that Barack Obama did in fact lie when he claimed that his health-care program would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants.
A "fact sheet" from the White House estimates that 100,000 illegal immigrants will receive benefits through the program. It explains, "Starting in November, DACA recipients can apply for coverage through HealthCare.gov and state-based marketplaces, where they may qualify for financial assistance to help them purchase quality health insurance."
So, to be clear, illegal immigrants won't merely be able to use the Obamacare portal to shop but will also be able to receive federal subsidies based on income, potentially qualifying for completely free medical coverage. There is also no reason to feel confident that the government will be able to accurately verify income for this population.
This is another example of executive overreach from a lawless administration.
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that "xenophobia" from China to Japan and India is hobbling their growth, as he argued that migration has been good for the U.S. economy.
"One of the reasons why our economy's growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants," Biden said at a Washington fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign and marking the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
"Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because they're xenophobic. They don't want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong."
The insult is being especially keenly felt over here in Tokyo; it comes less than a month after a lavish and carefully choreographed love in between Biden and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida. There was a marching band, a formal state dinner, and an atmosphere of mutual admiration all designed to present the two leaders as not just staunch allies but bosom buddies.
Nobody over here much bought into that representation -- the mini-summit was seen as being mainly for domestic consumption from two under-pressure leaders -- but the swiftness of the change of tone is still surprising in its sheer, brazen rudeness. And gall (Biden has condemned Donald Trump for anti-immigrant rhetoric on numerous occasions). It's as if a colleague whom you always imagined you had reasonable relations with suddenly tells you they hate your guts.
Reminder that Biden yesterday called Japan, a U.S. partner and ally "xenophobic", and it's somehow not a lead story today (which is why most people have apathy against the media's super serious outrage at Donald Trump) https://t.co/cuZU7rCstg
The latest jobs report released Friday revealed a slowdown in job growth and an increase in unemployment from the month of April, highlighting the continued failure of Bidenomics. The economy added a mere 175,000 jobs in April, falling short of economists' expectations, while the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent.
Key Details:
The underemployment rate reached its highest point since November 2021.
The number of people working multiple jobs to make ends meet increased by 8.8% over the last year, a 27.8% increase since Biden took office in January 2021.
Wage growth is not keeping pace with inflation, leaving middle-class families struggling.
Diving Deeper:
The jobs report for April paints a grim picture of the current state of the economy under the Biden administration. Despite predictions of a robust 243,000 job increase, the actual figure fell significantly short at 175,000--with eventual revisions expected to lower that number further. This disappointing figure is indicative of the broader economic issues plaguing the nation, with the underemployment rate reaching its highest point since November 2021.
'Economic Suicide': Biden Admin Justifies Tax Hike Based On Racial Criteria
The Biden administration's analysis of its revenue proposals for fiscal year 2025 argues targeted tax hikes that disproportionately affect white people would ease racial wealth inequality.
Increasing taxes on capital gains and income-based wealth would reduce racial wealth inequality for black and Hispanic families, the Treasury Department outlined in the analysis published in mid-March. The Treasury points out that white families disproportionately hold assets subject to capital gains tax or are in a higher tax bracket, meaning a hike in those taxes would benefit black and Hispanic families.
The Biden administration argues for taxing capital income for high-income earners at "ordinary rates," increasing the top rate from 37% to 39.6% for those who earn more than $1 million a year. Taxes on net investment income would also be hiked by 1.2 percentage points to 5% for those who make over $400,000 per year, bringing the total top marginal rate to 44.6%.
"Taxing capital gains at 44.6% at the federal level -- not to mention state taxes -- would be economic suicide," Preston Brashers, research fellow for tax policy in the Heritage Foundation's Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
BREAKING: The April Jobs Report came in far below expectations.
❌ Paychecks aren’t keeping up with inflation. ❌ The unemployment rate increased. ❌ More regulations added in the past 2 weeks than at any point in American history.
THE MORNING RANT: Periodic Roundup of the EV Follies – May 3, 2024
—Buck Throckmorton
Two Fires in One Week at Rivian’s Manufacturing Plant in Illinois
Rivian’s unraveling keeps getting worse. A few weeks ago it was announced that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) $1.5 billion taxpayer-subsidized boondoggle east of Atlanta was indefinitely suspended by Rivian. The start-up EV manufacturer is hemorrhaging cash, and it doesn’t need the Georgia plant because it doesn’t have enough demand to even approach the capacity of its plant in Normal, IL.
The move follows a 10% layoff at Rivian in February when the company disappointed investors with a lower-than-expected 2024 production forecast.
Well, somehow, it just got even worse. The most terrifying word to anyone involved with EVs is also the most terrifying word in a crowded theater… “FIRE!” It’s a word that is being said with alarming frequency at Rivian’s Illinois plant.
Another fire broke out Monday afternoon at the Rivian plant in Normal – at least the second fire in four days.
Monday’s fire destroyed a semitrailer in a loading dock on the south end of the plant, the Normal Fire Department said. A portion of the plant was evacuated until air quality returned to safe levels, fire officials said. No one was injured. An adjacent semitrailer sustained heat damage, and there was moderate heat and smoke damage to the exterior of the Rivian building above the dock area, the Normal Fire Department said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Meanwhile, just four days earlier, there was another fire at the same Rivian plant, this one on the assembly line.
A fire at the Rivian plant in Normal forced the evacuation of the plant for an hour and a half Thursday morning. The fire happened under a section of conveyor that moves vehicle chassis down the assembly line on the western side of the building, said the Normal Fire Department. Flames did not spread beyond the area, but firefighters said it took some time to ventilate smoke and do air-quality tests in the building.
*****
Saint Greta Is Not Pleased With All You Electric Car Buyers
This seems a bit problematic for all the virtue-signaling EV drivers, because the woman worshipped as divinely pure and infallible in her climate ministry has now condemned electric vehicles. That’s right, Saint Greta the Climate Puppet and her friends at “Fridays for Future Stockholm” are fed up with the exploitation of Congo and its people ”…so that the rest of the world can buy electric cars and other electronic devices.”
Do better, climate sinners. Be better. Driving an EV isn’t going to get you the climate indulgence you seek.
*****
Disincentivizing People From Buying Electric Vehicles
It costs me $32 per year to register my car in Tennessee. Meanwhile, it has been costing EV owners $100 per year. You may be thinking, “Well, that’s not fair.” Of course it’s not fair, EV owners should be paying even more.
The reason? One of TDOT's main sources of revenue comes from Tennessee's gas tax, but with more drivers choosing electric vehicles and using charging stations, TDOT is not seeing as much money from it anymore.
The fee for Tennessee EV owners to register their vehicle increased to $200 per year in 2024, and it’s going up to $274 per year in 2026.
This is the way it’s done. While the purpose of the higher EV registration fee may be to recoup lost highway revenue that would otherwise be collected at the gas pump, a welcome side-effect is that it establishes a disincentive to purchasing an EV. I wrote about this subject in a recent piece titled, “Time to Put Team EV on Defense.”
Therefore, we must now put the E.V. advocates on the defensive, making them fear they might lose their precious vehicles as a consequence of their attempted I.C.E. ban. They came after us and we repelled their first assault, but simply repelling an adversary’s attack only sets the stage for their next assault. They must suffer a loss, and they must put all their energy into not suffering any more losses, to ensure that they don’t get the opportunity to come after our gasoline-powered cars again.
*****
Ford’s Continuing EV Financial Debacle
Ford CEO Jim Farley has a serious problem. He’s an obedient eco-globalist determined to turn Ford into an electric vehicle manufacturer. The trouble is that consumers prefer real gas and diesel Ford products, not the electric go-karts that Farley is trying to push on customers. Farley cannot serve two masters. He has to choose between either his communist idols in Davos or the actual consumers visiting Ford dealerships. He really only has one choice. If he continues to pursue the communist/Davos/EV route, Ford will be out of business very shortly.
Ford lost $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024 on its electric vehicle products, on revenue of just $100 million. That comes out to a breathtaking $132,000 per EV sold.
Ford’s electric vehicle unit reported that losses soared in the first quarter to $1.3 billion, or $132,000 for each of the 10,000 vehicles it sold in the first three months of the year, helping to drag down earnings for the company overall.
Beyond the financial debacle, Ford’s overall EV sales have already peaked and are now plummeting.
The EV unit, which Ford calls Model e, sold 10,000 vehicles in the quarter, down 20% from the number it sold a year earlier. And its revenue plunged 84% to about $100 million, which Ford attributed mostly to price cuts for EVs across the industry.
The early adopters already bought their EVs, and no one else really wants them. In addition, word is out about just how awful these electric toys are, with limited range and functionality, and a very short life span. Dealers hate EVs, and have too much respect for their good customers to put them in a product that will cause ill will. And with its growing glut of unsold EVs, Ford is having to radically discount new EV sales to make the excess inventory go away…which leaves the first suckers who paid full price desperately underwater on a lousy electric vehicle that they cannot trade out of.
What a debacle.
*****
Ford Slashing & Reassigning EV Workforce
Unsurprisingly, Ford is having to re-allocate employees from the plant that makes its unpopular EVs to those making products that consumers actually desire.
Of the 2,100 employees at its EV plant in Dearborn, all but 700 are being redeployed or given early retirement packages.
Ford Motor Co. is dramatically cutting the hourly workforce at the factory that builds the Ford F-150 Lightning starting next week, as the automaker slashes product targets of its all-electric pickup. Of the 2,100 workers who make up three work crews at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, one third will remain on-site after April 1, Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch told the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday.
Where are the employees going? They are going to a plant that makes the popular - and gas-powered - Broncos and Rangers. The transferred employees will be able to boost production of these hot selling products by providing manpower for a third shift.
A crew of 700 will be transferred to the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to build the Bronco and Ranger while the remaining 700 or so will either take the $50,000 retirement package negotiated during the 2023 contract talks or accept reassignment in southeast Michigan. Ford is adding a third crew at Michigan Assembly.
*****
Ford Suspending EV Launches
Related…
Ford is suspending some new electric product launches.
There is something really big in this story, specifically the suspension (excuse me, “delay”) in launching electric pickup production at Ford’s new plant outside Memphis.
Ford Motor said Thursday it had delayed the planned launches of three-row EVs in Canada and its next-generation electric pickup truck in Tennessee as the slowdown in EV demand globally forces automakers to revise production plans. Ford said separately it was boosting hybrid electric vehicle offerings and by 2030 expects to offer hybrid powertrains across its lineup of gas-powered vehicles.
Separately, Ford said it will delay deliveries of an all-new EV truck it will build at a new plant in western Tennessee until 2026. Ford said last year it planned to begin production in late 2025 and build up to 500,000 electric trucks annually at the plant.
As I have previously documented, Ford’s massive $12 billion investment in Tennessee and Kentucky included an EV manufacturing plant and an EV battery plant near Memphis, plus another battery plant in Kentucky. Ford has already indefinitely suspended the Kentucky battery plant in an announcement in October 2023, disclosing that it was canceling $12 billion in EV spending.
Remember, Ford sold only 10,000 EVs in Q1 2024, which annualizes to just 40,000 in a full year…and its demand is decreasing. Ford already has excess EV manufacturing capacity, so there is no use for a new factory that can build 500,000 EVs per year.
One of two things is going to happen:
1) Ford’s “Blue Oval City” plant in Tennessee is going to be mothballed or scuttled.
2) Ford is going to re-purpose this plant to manufacture conventional or hybrid vehicles.
Ford owes its stockholders an answer about this sparkling new albatross in Tennessee. What is clearly not going to happen is the commencement of electric pickup truck production in 2026. Ford is insulting its shareholders by continuing to state that the impossible is going to happen.
*****
Europe Is Now Assertively Rejecting EVs
It’s not just Americans who are rejecting EVs, Europe is too, with a glut of unsold electric vehicles piling up.
And it’s not just Chinese EVs that Europeans are declining to purchase. They’re backing off of European EV brands too. Volkswagen has been the leading retailer of EVs in Europe, but its Q1 2024 EV sales dropped dramatically from Q1 2023.
The company sold roughly 3.3% fewer all-electric vehicles [globally] than a year ago. In Europe, the decline was 24.3%.
*****
VW’s Problems in the U.S.
The same article referenced directly above also notes that Volkswagen’s year-over-year Q1 electric vehicle sales in the U.S. were down 16%.
With VW’s electric vehicle efforts in this country already failing, what is to become of its new EV plant in Tennessee, which opened less than two years ago, and is adjacent to a plant that builds gas-powered VWs?
It’s barely worth noting at this point that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) threw $50 million of taxpayer grants at VW to build this EV plant. Of course he did. A ridiculous amount of Tennessee taxpayer money has been thrown at EV boondoggles. It’s embarrassing.
Employees at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers union Friday in a historic first test of the UAW’s renewed effort to organize nonunion factories.
I’m kind of agnostic about this. If VW were a well-run company, I’d be concerned about the potential harm that this could cause. But if VW were a well-run company, the employees probably wouldn’t be unionizing.
VW as a company has embraced the left-wing agenda of western globalists, including climate communism and cultural communism. It’s doubtful the company can survive too long with that communist rot within.
But it also seems a little unfair then, that in a passionately communist organization like VW, why hasn’t it fully embraced economic communism too? How is it fair that it is leaving the employees out of its communist mission? Isn’t any profit VW makes due to its exploitation of labor?
I’m not really serious, of course, but if VW is on a suicide path in obedience to its globalist/communist overlords, the employees might as well get as much as they can before VW is gone.
*****
My Latest at The Pipeline
In my latest piece at The Pipeline (EVs Enter the Doom Loop) I note the similarity between the irrational exuberance of the EV bubble, which is now busting, to the dot com bubble of a quarter-century ago, with the notable difference that unlike the dot com era, the EV bubble has been soaked in sanctimony and has received a flood of taxpayer subsidization before it started going bust.
My latest at The Pipeline “EVs Enter the Doom Loop” looks at the boom-to-bust cycle of companies riding the EV wave, focusing on one which just failed after all the media hype, political photo ops, government incentives, and a stock price run-up and crash. https://t.co/ZdwgRY64x3
First off, congratulations to Brian Kemp for no longer being the EV industry’s biggest mark. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has set a new standard of credulity by throwing almost a billion dollars at a company that is already deep into its doom loop.
In exchange for the Illinois tax incentive money, Rivian has promised to expand the capacity at its Illinois plant from 150,000 units per year to 215,000. Bear in mind that Rivian is currently struggling to sell 50,000 EVs per year.
What does this mean for the “delayed” Rivian plant in Georgia? What it means is that as much as Rivian didn’t need a new plant in Georgia before, it doesn’t need it even more now!
Good morning, kids. It certainly looks as if Netanyahu has indeed had enough of Biden, Blinken and the jug-eared dog-eating closet queen from Kalorama and has told them to go piss up a rope insofar as an insane ceasefire. Considering the mass slaughter and savagery perpetrated by these subhuman Islamic monsters and the fact that the hostages are likely dead or, at this point praying for death, a ceasefire right now, with the IDF poised to wipe out Hamas' last redoubt, is akin to Curtis LeMay giving Tojo the atomic bombs and letting the Japanese nuke America.
I can't read Netanyahu's mind, but perhaps after years of living in denial about the United States insofar as the desperate desire to maintain the illusion of America as Israel's most steadfast ally, regardless of who's in charge, he's finally realized that given who's in charge now, the America government today is at best no longer an ally and should likely be considered firmly in the enemy camp if not an actual enemy.
That statement now applies to the American citizenry and its relationship with the Junta. As horrific as the pogrom unleashed on Israel last October was, the reaction to it by the alleged civilized world and here at home by the Democrat-Left, from a political standpoint, has been gold delivered to us on a silver platter.
Remember that Joe Biden, as horrendous an example of a human being to have ever obtained political office in this country, just behind the Clintons and Kennedys, was deliberately chosen by Obama because his veneer of being an alleged moderate of the old school gave Obama the cover, on top of his mulatto melanin, to unleash his radical Maoism on America with impunity.
Now as his puppet, with the disaster of the past three years exploding that myth to all but the truest of true believer leftists, the pre-planned explosion of campus Jew-hate that dates back to shortly after the IDF began its retaliatory war on Hamas in Gaza, is likely the nail in their coffin as far as this November goes. Election fraud, the kangaroo court Trump show trials, and perhaps mass rioting this summer in Chicago and Milwaukee and all over the place as the pretext for martial law and another CIA/DOJ/State Dept. color revolution right here notwithstanding.
With that, Biden is caught between having to appease his radical base and not totally turning off not just Jewish voters but anyone who has eyes to see what the hell is going on both here and abroad. Hence his latest clumsy attempt to equivocate Israel and "Palestine" while then going on to say he is not wavering in his support for Israel, phony as that surely is.
On March 1, 2018, Joe Biden got a $200,000 check. The story of where that check came from involves everything from “bloodstained currency” to smuggled gold bars to ‘The Exorcist’. But above all else it involves an enemy Muslim tyranny with ties to 9/11 and Hamas.
When I first broke the story a week before Election Day, it was about how hospital patients in smaller poorer hospitals, including one that had inspired ‘The Exorcist’, had suffered because of the corrupt greed of the Biden family. But even then there was a strange element which led to one of the key figures in the case receiving “blood-stained currency from a Middle Eastern country” and a “torture ticket” after suing James Biden: Joe’s brother.
Four years later, in the midst of the Hamas war, the identity of the “Middle Eastern country” behind the Biden business takes on new importance because it is a state sponsor of Hamas. And congressional investigators and investigative journalists have also traced a trail from Qatar, through James’ health care business to that $200,000 check he sent to Joe Biden.
The health care business that brought together the Biden family and an Islamic terror state had targeted stricken rural hospitals in Kentucky, Missouri and Pennsylvania. . .
. . . Qatar’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (the parent organization of Hamas) and Iran had led to an embargo by its neighbors. And Qatar’s ties to terrorists, including to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, who hid out there until he was allegedly tipped off by a member of the Islamic tyranny’s royal family that America was coming to get him, may have complicated the proposed investment funding mechanisms.
The next stage of the plan involved James Biden becoming the “chief global banking emissary” for Billerfy which processed payments for a cryptocurrency exchange known as Quadriga that traded money for crypto. Later that year, Billerfy’s accounts were frozen and millions were found in a personal account. Six days later, Quadriga’s 30-year-old CEO suddenly died in India, locking up $70 million in cash and $191 million in crypto. Another co-founder, Michael Patry, whose real name turned out to be Omar was raided and authorities discovered gold bars in a vault. The whole operation was then exposed as a massive ponzi scheme.
But by then James Biden had already benefited from $600,000 in “personal loans” from the health care company. On March 1, 2018, Americore wired $200,000 to James and he wrote a $200,000 check to Joe. But the loans, according to bankruptcy court documents were conditioned based on “representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could “obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.”
. . . Even while undermining the sitting [Trump] administration, Biden’s brother was offering the services of his family to an enemy nation. This has wider implications beyond Qatar’s role backing Hamas. Qatar was also the central intermediary in the Taliban “deal” and had formed an alliance with Iran. It is difficult to know whether the “Biden family” relationship with Qatar played any role in the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and in the sanctions relief offered to Iran.
We do know there was a relationship between the Biden family and a state sponsor of Hamas, which Joe Biden profited from, and that has disturbing implications for our national security.
“We’ve got people all around the world who want to invest in Joe Biden,” James Biden once bragged. One of those investors had ties to Iran, Al Qaeda, Iran and Hamas.
If the dimwits of "the Squad," in Dearbornistan and on college campuses nationwide only opened their eyes a little bit, they'd understand that Joey Sponge-Brain Shits-Pants, with or without the string-pulling of Obama, has done more to further their twin causes of destroying Israel and destroying America than they could have ever dreamed.
And yet, they're sliming him as "genocide Joe" because they think he supports Israel? Biden may have dementia, but these assholes are just plain stupid to not see the taqqiya sunrise sundowning in the Oval Office actually making their dreams come true.
That might be just the edge we need to at least squeak by in 2024. Of course, with the CIA, DOJ, the flag officer corps and JCS and the rest of the Deep State on their side, it's going to be a very long hot summer, perhaps extending well into autumn and, God forbid, beyond.
Have a good weekend.
ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY
Ann Coulter: “This is why the Proud Boys had to be made Public Enemy No. 1: They protected conservatives from violent leftists.” Hate Watchdogs Need Glasses
"Multiculturalism does not work, and Europe's recent experience is instructive." Multiculti Chaos
Horowitz & Greenfield: "It’s time to call the enemy by its true name." The Neo-Nazi Left
"Most of the hostages — including most of the 100 or so still thought to be alive — would remain in Hamas' hands. Terrorists would also have a strong incentive to kidnap Israelis — and Americans — in future, and will try to do so. Israeli politicians, from left to right, understand exactly what the country is facing. Left-wing protesters chanted Thursday that Israel must choose between 'Rafah' — i.e. winning the war — and releasing some of the hostages." Biden, Blinken Push Israel to Lose War — for a Fraction of the Hostages
"It all comes down to Nov. 5 and the Big Backfire. . . So now poor SecState Blinken — never the sharpest penny in the pantry — finds himself tasked with the impossible: applying pressure he doesn't have to wrangle a ceasefire out of Israel that Hamas won't agree to, or his boss will lose Michigan and the Campus Commies that make up an increasing (and increasingly virulent) portion of the Democrat base." Antony Blinken's Big, Stupid Middle East Trip
"Hamas has a new friend in communist guerrilla-turned-president Petro, and that’s no shock to me." Colombia and Israel Break Up (Columbia, Colombia . . . let's call the whole thing off - jjs)
"Israel’s enemies are charging the world’s only Jewish nation with committing genocide. This is a lie." Is Israel Guilty of Genocide?
* * * * *
"Across the country, anti-Israel protesters have set up encampments on college campuses, some have overtaken buildings, refused to comply with trespassing violations and replaced the American flag with the 'Palestinian' flag. Biden addressed the protests for the first time in nine days, in unplanned remarks, condemning violent and unlawful protests, but adding that the National Guard shouldn’t intervene." Biden Says States Shouldn’t Deploy National Guard Against Anti-Israel Protests
Notably, the first protests, which sprouted at Columbia University, began before Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that allocates $26 billion in aid for Israel, including billions in military aid, on April 24. (He loves billionaire Jewish lucre but can't piss off the Marxist/Muslim maniacs - jjs) Joe Biden to Anti-Israel Protesters: You Have Failed, Have Not Forced Me to Reconsider Policies
The GOP presidential candidate, who has defined himself as the law and order candidate this election, ended, “These are radical left lunatics, and they gotta be stopped now because it’s gonna go on and on, and it’s gonna get worse and worse, And, you know, they take over countries, okay, and we’re not letting them take over the USA. We’re not letting the radical left morons take over this country.” Trump: Pro-Hamas Anti-Semites are "Radical Left Lunatics" (But he repeats himself - jjs)
Naomi Wolf: "Are American students walking into a terrifying trap? . . . The war waged on US college campuses today is ultimately not about 'Palestine' or Israel at all. It is a war against America — and especially against America’s next generation." U.S. Campus Chaos: A New Oct 7 on the Way?
Douglas Murray: ". . . although youth and ignorance aren’t any real excuse, perhaps I can educate these students about what they are actually calling for. I invite them to 'do the work' of understanding what it means when people call for 'Intifada' and what it actually means." (You're pissing in the wind, Douglas - jjs) College Idiots Calling for "Intifada" Have No Idea How Many Innocents Have Died From That Word
Hilariously, during a “press conference” the day after the Tuesday night kerfuffle, protesters released a “statement” calling the melee a “life threatening assault” and an “act of terror” - ironic, coming from Hamas apologists. “Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help,” one protester claimed. Protesters Who Called For Abolishing the Police Complain Cops Didn't Protect Them Enough
Robert Zimmerman: "Why not use these funds instead to create a database that identifies every single one of the Hamas protesters who attempted to take over the UNC campus so that future employees will have a resource when it comes time to hire graduates?" Pro-American UNC frat boys: Don’t hold a party, use the money more effectively!
Andrew Dudum, the "Palestinian"-American CEO of Hims, a telehealth and online pharmacy known for its suggestive New York City subway ads, shared a link to current openings and encouraged the student protesters to apply. “Moral courage > College degree,” he wrote on X. CEO of Male Hair Loss and ED Treatment Brand is "Eager" to Hire Anti-Israel Protesters
OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
"You're the last person who should be quoting Scripture" . . . “Your prayer will soon be answered when we vote Trump back into the White House.” Biden Roasted for National Day of Prayer Message
"Houses of worship can take several steps to harden their facilities against attack—but ultimately, security cannot be left solely to the professionals." Keep Congregations Safe
The resolution begins with a line that says Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “created the worst border crisis in the Nation’s history.” What follows are dozens of critiques of the administration’s record, including the “mass release of millions of illegal aliens into United States communities” and language that highlights the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley allegedly by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant. 13 House Dems Back Latest Rebuke Of Biden’s Immigration Policies
“The gag order says it applies to the president himself, and then it prevents him from instructing or ordering anybody else to do it. So, legally, that basically applies to anybody who works for him. And since he is considered basically the chairman of the campaign or the top dog on the campaign, the campaign applies to everybody who is on campaign staff.” ‘Election Interference’: Bragg Case Gag Order Puts Unprecedented Limitations On Trump Campaign
For starters, Davidson argued that the $130,000 payment to Daniels should not be construed as "hush money" but rather as a legitimate "consideration" payment. If that wasn't bad enough, Davidson also testified that Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was "despondent" when he didn't get a White House job after Trump won the presidency in 2016. Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer Just Destroyed Bragg’s Case Against Trump
"Leftists who slander patriotic Americans of faith as ‘white Christian nationalists’ are missing something significant." Black Christian Nationalism?
FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH
The survey results corroborate the findings of another poll released by Gallup last fall, which revealed American trust in the media at a new low. According to Gallup, 39 percent of Americans rated their level of confidence in mass media at “none at all,” marking an all-time high since 1972 when the pollster first asked the question. 29 percent said they had “not very much trust” in media, and only about 3 in 10 reported any confidence. Poll: More Than 8 In 10 Americans Don’t Trust Corporate Media To Report Facts
“The Committee has concerns about the direction in which NPR may be headed under past and present leadership. As a taxpayer funded, public radio organization, NPR should focus on fair and objective news reporting that both considers and reflects the views of the larger U.S. population and not just a niche audience,” the letter said. (How about just abolishing NPR? - jjs) House Republicans Seek NPR CEO Testimony About Liberal Bias Allegations
"Drafting the U.S. dollar, America’s long-dominant global reserve currency, into foreign military service over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a fateful decision." Boosting Dedollarization — From Within
"The Biden [junta] continues with its union-backed plan to ban most types of freelancing — despite the dire evidence from California." GOP Fights Biden for Independent Contractors
"With Peloton stock down approximately 92 percent from its high in 2020, the latest downsizing comes as a bitter pill to swallow, as it directly contradicts the assurances made by outgoing CEO Barry McCarthy during Peloton’s Q1 2023 earnings call, where he stated that the company was done with layoffs and that the 'ship was turning.' McCarthy, a former executive at Spotify and Netflix, took the helm from founder John Foley just over two years ago, with the aim of steering Peloton through its turbulent times. He is now leaving the company after presiding over the company’s massive loss of share value." Spinning Wheels: Peloton CEO Steps Down amid More Layoffs, 92% Drop in Stock Price
The CRA is a longshot, having only been successful 20 times since 1996, and Republicans can also try legal action if the CRA doesn’t pan out. But Sullivan believes that he can get some Democrats on board in the Senate. “[Sen. Joe] Manchin [D-W.Va.] is fully supportive, and I think it’s likely we’ll get other Democrats to support this because they’re hearing from their constituents,” Sullivan said at a press conference. “Then we’ll see if Joe Biden vetoes what the vast majority of the members of the House and Senate want.” Congressional Republicans Take Aim at Biden’s Electric Truck Rule
Maybe the money will come pouring back in as Washington and various state governments continue to subsidize and mandate the ever-loving heck out of "clean" energy boondoggles and EVs. But at least for now, the smart money is going elsewhere. Are Americans Finally Done With the 'Sustainability' Scam?
The Act makes it so that babies at around six-weeks gestation, when heartbeats are generally detectable, cannot be aborted. According to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, it has the potential to protect roughly 50,000 lives annually. The law, however, does leave exceptions for cases where a mother’s life is at risk, when a fatal prenatal diagnosis occurs, and in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking. Fla. Heartbeat Act Goes Into Effect: Pro-Lifers Rejoice, Pro-Aborts Cry
THE 2020 AND 2022ELECTION HEISTS & AFTERMATH
"Republicans everywhere should realize: this is a national, all-hands-on-deck emergency. The future of America may, and probably does, depend on limiting this election to Americans." American Elections for American Citizens: Does Anybody Care?
"Fairness advocates are working in 15 states to preserve American citizens’ exclusive right to vote—and that’s just the start of this new effort that’s showing a path to victory." Inside the Battle to Keep Only Citizens Voting
"[Hansjörg] Wyss is one of the best-connected mega-donors on the left. He’s a member of the Democracy Alliance, a cabal of the rich and powerful that meets regularly to strategize funding to leftist activists." Meet the ‘New George Soros’ Using Front Groups To Influence Elections
"The revelations are coupled with warnings from SIGAR that Afghanistan is reemerging as a hotspot for terrorist activities and the spending of taxpayer’s money on weapons removal may inadvertently be benefiting the Taliban. The removal efforts are part of the U.S.’ $17 billion investment in post-withdrawal Afghanistan, which according to SIGAR, remains somewhat unmonitored due to limited government cooperation." Guess How Much Biden Recently Funneled to the Taliban?
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE COURTS, WASTE/FRAUD/ABUSE
"Joshua Dean lost his life after a struggle with a sudden, fast-spreading infection, the Seattle Times reports. He was aged 45 and reportedly in good health before his sudden demise after a two week fight for life in hospital." Second Boeing Whistleblower Dies Suddenly
". . . rather than the company being humbled by its recent string of disasters, Boeing executives seem cartoonishly dedicated to the aims of the WEF – aims far afield of manufacturing excellence or aviation safety." Boeing: From Aviation Excellence to ESG Disaster
"Illinois had the fifth-highest unemployment rate out of any other state in March at 4.8%, along with one of the nation’s highest tax burdens, and has only added 26,100 net jobs in the last year while adding 30,100 government positions, according to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. At the same time, residents are fleeing Illinois in droves as the state grapples with some of the largest pension debt in the country." Forget California: There Might Be a New Contender for the Most Dysfunctional State
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
"Science should be judged on its merits, not on its funders." Medscape Gets Smoked
“Now, there’s lots of things not normal, doesn’t mean you have to hate something that isn’t normal. But if my children are taught that there’s – whatever the current vogue number is – 76 or 97 or whatever the number of purported genders that exist, I don’t want my children taught that,’ Galloway said in an interview with Novara Media. (George Galloway is virtually a hardcore Muslim, so QED - jjs) Far-Left Politician Admits Gay Relationships ‘Not Normal’, ‘Not Equal’ to Traditional Families
"Is the BBC series the feminist masterpiece critics claim it to be?" Fleabag
HITHER & YON
The iconic guitarist renowned for his influential electric twang passed away at 86 due to cancer, according to THR. Eddy’s career spanned several decades and he became famous for his instrumental hits like “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn.” His music sold over 100 million records globally. He revolutionized the rock ‘n’ roll genre, influencing legends such as George Harrison and Bruce Springsteen. Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Duane Eddy Dies at 86
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.
ALSO: The Morning Report is cross-posted at CutJibNewsletter.com if you want to continue the conversation all day.
I'm sure they do, and I'm sure it is, but this article not only provides no evidence whatsoever for these claims, it doesn't even provide any coherent claims.
In the sense that a moderately experienced user with a $20 screwdriver set can open them up and replace the screen, battery, and motherboard, and the front and back parts of the case if the damage is physical rather than electronic.
Which is not everything, but is certainly something.
The Democrats are already facing a critical election in which they must run a deeply unpopular dementia patient against a former president who maintains a strong base of support despite being hit with an endless barrage of fake criminal charges. The very last thing the left wanted was a civil war on college campuses that exposed the disastrous contradictions at the heart of its coalition.
The only thing that could possibly rescue the Democrats from this nightmare scenario would be footage of Republican governors sending in police to violently silence protesters. This would bail out the establishment and allow mainstream liberals to put the woke vanguard in its place while pointing at the GOP as the real enemy, a unifying symbol of authority to hate.
I know the gut instinct of the right is to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but the GOP must sit on its hands and let this play out.
You can always count on the GOP to do the wrong thing. What say you? Leave them alone, or bust some heads.
Many people, including physicians, may not be aware that interventional studies, particularly RCTs, are prone to numerous biases, with selection bias being one of the most significant. Excluding potentially eligible individuals because of their anticipated group allocation can lead to selection bias.
It’s common knowledge that early treatment of COVID-19 is crucial for effective results. The earlier the treatment starts, the more effective it is. These approved antivirals for COVID-19 are used shortly after COVID-19 infection and usually within a few days after symptom onset.
For example, Paxlovid and molnupiravir registration trials treated patients within only five days of symptom onset. However, in the PRINCIPLE trial, ivermectin was used for patients within 14 days of symptom onset, while ACTIV-6 treated patients an average of six days after infection.
I'm not shocked. One treatment protocol was worth billions to drug companies, and the other worthless. Why would anyone be shocked?
I Thought There Were More Options For Entertainment In NYC
So, these notices started going up around NYC a few weeks ago:
Five West Virginia middle schoolers who protested a transgender athlete’s participation in a track and field competition have been barred from future meets — prompting the state attorney general to ask the US Supreme Court to weigh in on transgender student-athlete bans for a second time.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education on the dissenting students’ behalf after they were blocked from upcoming meets following their protests at the April 18 shot put competition, West Virginia Watch reported.
Five girls from Lincoln Middle School stepped up to the circle for their turn before refusing to throw in the event, which was won by Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old girl who takes puberty-blocking medication and estrogen hormone therapy.
While West Virginia law bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams, a recent federal appeals court ruled that the law couldn’t lawfully be applied to the eighth-grader.
So these girls refused to compete against the boy (And good for them, we need more of that), and now they've been banned from sports. There's a lot of resentment building out there, it's not going to be pretty when it breaks.
Najac: This small medieval village, located in the southwest of France,
is perched on a hill overlooking the Aveyron River. It is dominated
by a 13th century castle and offers spectacular views
of the surrounding countryside.
-- BestCitiesofEurope
Photo by @markvzquez
"Golden hour" or "magic hour" is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. The light is still bright enough that no artificial lighting is needed to take perfect pictures, but the light is also more golden and more red than normal daylight, giving a warm, glowing look to everything.
A hiker and his dog have a chance encounter with an ibix.
Skiing down the sheerest cliff. Note in the beginning, it looks like he's skiing down the mountain's spine, but after a bit he turns his skis towards the cliff.
The editors of the Columbia Spoiled Brat Children's Newspaper are demanding what they did after their BLM riots -- no exams. They should just be given good grades and credit for completing courses they didn't complete at all.
In other words, the perfect time to send your own boys in.
French President Emmanuel Macron has reaffirmed his position that the possibility of sending ground troops into Ukraine cannot be ruled out. "I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out," Macron said in an interview with The Economist published Thursday. He added that if Russia was to "break through the front lines" in Ukraine and Kyiv requested troops, "we would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question." Macron's comments double down on remarks he made in February in which he said the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine could not be "ruled out," which prompted a direct warning from Moscow's Defense Ministry.
Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' political opponent debated with an empty podium after Willis skipped the county's first Democratic Party debate, local reports show.
...
The Fulton County Democratic Party held its first primary debate on Sunday, but Willis was a no-show, leaving her political opponent to take the stage alone, where he criticized his fellow Democrat for hiring a romantic partner for the high-level case.
"That issue is important to us in Fulton County and a lot of people across the country," Smith said on the stage, Fox 5 reported.
"When you pay one attorney nearly $1 million to handle one case, that leaves the rest of us vulnerable. That hurts everyone in Fulton County," he said.
"The U Chicago Popular University For Gaza demands that you, Chicago, divest from the Gaza genocide," the protester told the university. "We demand that you, Chicago, divest from weapons manufacturers arming Israel and its partnerships with militarized Israeli universities, and cut ties with the Israel Institute. We also demand that you, Chicago, divest from all interrelated forces of death and violence into which it is currently complicit, especially fossil fuel production, UCPD and construction projects that fuel South Side displacement." ...
(skipping a bit)
"The U Chicago Popular University for Gaza demands repair of the harm caused by the university. We demand that you, Chicago, repair the harm it has caused in Palestine, Chicago and beyond," she continued. "This includes explicitly acknowledging such harm as well as implementing a communally accountable program of reparation. More specifically, it includes 1. recognizing Israel's genocide and scholasticide in Palestine and supporting Birzeit University's initiative to rebuild Gazan higher education. 2. signing the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. 3. disbanding UCPD and redirecting funds to South Side community-based products. 4. allocating funds to annual rental assistance and local schools, expanding employer-assisted housing, funding grants for long-term affordable housing, and halting expansion on the South Side. 5. Decarbonizing the endowment and reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, in line with the university's existing sustainability plan for campus emissions."
This is education today: uncultured lunatics "teaching" slow adult-aged children to be even stupider than they were in middle school.
Unsurprising. I often chatted with the BLM protest groups here in Portland. I never met a single one who knew the actual data.
It speaks to a lack of sincerity. Anyone serious about an issue, as opposed to wanting to virtue signal and join a mob, would start with at least… https://t.co/k9f0DO5AHX
The pro-Hamas demonstrations at UCLA have been violent, much more so than on other campuses. At times it can most accurately be described as riots that have broken out. It's inexcusable that the police were not brought in after the riot on Tuesday, which injured more than 20 people.
UCLA has been slow to respond to the escalating violence. On Tuesday the university declared the encampment unlawful. The protesters chanted "KKK" at police who monitored the activity on campus. The Hamas supporters yelled that they were not afraid of the police. They planned to fight back.
There were reports on Wednesday that Jewish students began fighting back. Maybe that is what led up to the police moving in on the encampment. The university had to finally act. Outside agitators have been blamed for some of the violence.
Protesters liked arms and made a line to keep the police away from the tents in the encampment. Faculty members and university staff joined the students in their demonstration.
An overwhelming show of force by police arrived to deal with the situation. As we have seen with other demonstrations, it's the only way to get the job done. The demonstrators have no respect for law enforcement. As I watch what is unfolding, LAPD is arresting protesters one by one. They are being handcuffed with zip ties and led away. It's mostly peaceful and calm.
Many protesters are wearing hard hats and protective goggles. They sprayed police with fire extinguishers. Police essentially corralled the protestors, many into the library, to keep order and make arrests easier.
At UCLA, protesters -- a lot of woke women here -- cry and even hyperventilate as they're arrested. They especially don't like the police taking off their dirty masks for the cameras.
The White House Now Sends a Phalanx of Aids to Surround Biden When He Walks, To Screen Biden's Shuffling, Stumbling Gait from the American Voters
—Disinformation Expert Ace
The truth (that Biden is feeble and dying) is always accompanied by a bodyguard of lies (his White House protectors and puppeteers).
Via Twitchy, this report from Axios, aka Politico for Kidz:
President Biden has introduced a change to his White House departure and return routine: Instead of walking across the South Lawn to and from Marine One by himself, he's now often surrounded by aides.
Why it matters: With aides usually walking between Biden and the press' camera position outside the White House, the visual effect is to draw less attention to the 81-year-old's halting and stiff gait, Axios' Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson report.
Some Biden advisers have told Axios they're concerned that videos of Biden walking and shuffling alone -- especially across the grass -- have highlighted his age.
Weeks ago, the president told aides that he'd prefer a less formal approach, a White House official told Axios. He suggested that they walk with him.
White House staffers and reporters alike noticed the sudden change in Biden's walk routine beginning in mid-April, after more than three years in which he'd typically walked solo.
I completely missed this. The NY Post has been all over it:
Why It Matters: Because it's going to be hilarious when Biden falls again.
HAPPENING NOW: President Biden returns back to the White House.
Aides and staffers seemingly wait for him to get off Marine One before heading inside.
This appears to be the new strategy the admin is taking in order for Biden to avoid questions and distract from age concerns. pic.twitter.com/gPqs1psTsj
Surrounding him with subordinates is also meant to subliminally communicate that he's a big important guy who's totally in charge (of these eight people acting as human shields). Whether crap like that works, I don't know.
It probably does work. Because people are f*cking stupid.
Six months ahead of the November election, former President Donald Trump is leading Democrat incumbent Joe Biden by a whopping 15 points in Michigan, a key swing state. According to a Kaplan Strategies survey, the former president polled 51 percent to 36 percent in the battleground state. The margin of error for the survey was plus/minus 3.5 percentage points.
Is this a sign of something? Nah. It's an outlier. No other poll shows such a blow-out race. Every other poll has it close in Michigan.
Other polls have also shown varying results for Michigan. An Emerson College/The Hill poll released earlier this week indicated Biden trailing Trump marginally in Michigan (44 percent to 45 percent), while a Bloomberg News and Morning Consult poll suggested Biden ahead of Trump (47 percent to 45 percent).
Of course, to be close in Michigan is a coup for a Republican...
Also, it's worth pointing out that outlier polls exist. When Marist or MSNBC trumpets a poll showing Biden with a narrow lead in national polling, remember, this Kaplan poll has Trump up by 15 points. There is no #BelieveAllPolls movement. Some are just wrong.
And I repeat: Trump always gets more votes than his polls suggest. There are a lot of shy -- or browbeaten -- Trump voters who won't tell pollsters they're voting for the Bad Orange Man.
The latest Emerson College/The Hill poll reveals that former President Donald Trump holds a slight edge over President Joe Biden in all seven key swing states, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Key Details:
Trump leads Biden by four points in Arizona, three points in Georgia, one point in Michigan, one point in Nevada, five points in North Carolina, and two points in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Independent voters favor Trump over Biden in five of the seven states, with Biden leading among independents in Georgia and Wisconsin.
Emerson College/The Hill also included polling of key Senate races in Arizona and Pennsylvania, with Republican candidates Kari Lake and David McCormick steadily gaining over their Democratic opponents in their respective states.
This poll has a lot of bad news for Biden. Although abortion gives Biden a lift, he's behind on the issue of the economy, and the increasingly-salient question of whether he or Biden had a successful presidency.
Voters rating the current economy vs. the economy as they remembered it under the Bad Orange Man:
In 2020, voters said that Biden "understood voters like us." Now that has flipped and Trump has the edge on the issue:
In Pennsylvania, near-majorities say they'd be better off financially under Trump, and worse off financially under Brandon:
This is another poll that finds that Trump does better when RFKJr. is not named as an option -- in other words, Kennedy is pulling more from Trump than Biden.
In Michigan, with the presence of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the net gap between Mr. Biden and Trump is the same, but Kennedy looks like he's drawing more interest from the kinds of voters backing Trump than backing Mr. Biden.
Most of those picking Kennedy in a four-way ballot test backed Trump initially in a two-way race with Mr. Biden, including leaners.
This is a problem for Trump. Trump's core voters are a mix of conservatives and old-school blue-collar Kennedy-era disaffected Democrats. With an actual Kennedy in a race, some of those voters defect.
Sad:
"Pause."
Never let it be said that Trump isn't an incredibly funny guy. His speeches are like two hour stand-up comedy shows. pic.twitter.com/bXRyGPz9Lf
On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg refused to say whether he will prosecute the pro-Palestinian rioters who broke into and took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.
Bragg is currently prosecuting Donald Trump for an alleged campaign finance violation that is normally tried as a misdemeanor offense and would normally result in a fine as a felony. In addition to elevating the misdemeanor offense to a felony, the statute of limitations on the alleged crime had passed. On top of that, nondisclosure agreements are not illegal.
Despite Bragg's overzealousness to go after Trump, he was unresponsive to inquiries from the Daily Caller regarding potential charges for pro-Palestinian rioters arrested on Tuesday. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested 119 rioters at Columbia University on Tuesday evening, as well as 173 at a City University of New York (CUNY) protest, where students also took over an administrative building.
"Given his track record and the political nature of the events, I would be surprised if the Manhattan District Attorney's Office prosecuted the charges in a serious manner," Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson told the Daily Caller. "The charges are likely to be dropped against most perpetrators, and drastically reduced for others under an agreement that would see the charges eventually expunged."
Biden finally spoke up about the antisemitic protests on Democrat plantation colleges.
BIDEN: "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or… pic.twitter.com/I6T8cK0RHc
As @POTUS speaks on the chaos in college campuses from the White House - here is the 1st President’s statue a few miles away at GWU in DC. H/t @davidspuntpic.twitter.com/lQtsmobirz
Meanwhile, even Al Sharpton and his merry band of adulterers realize that Democrats cannot continue shrieking about January 6th while indulging antifa, BLM, and pro-Hamas rioters:
Al Sharpton on Morning Joe: “How do the Democrats, how do all of us on that side, say January 6 was wrong if you can have the same pictures going on, on college campuses?”
Ukranian Troll Farm Employee Confesses: I Was Paid to Inject Pro-Ukraine Propaganda Into American Social Media. But For Some Reason, We Were Told to Propagandize for Joe Biden.
—Disinformation Expert Ace
She suspects that this troll farm was funded by the CIA, which would mean the CIA was running yet another psyop targeting the citizens of the United Fucking States who pay these scumbags their salaries.
Meme Therefore I Am
@ImMeme0
BREAKING: CIA Operates Troll Farms in Kyiv to Influence American Voters and To Assure Biden's 2024 Win.
A former employee of one of the Kyiv troll factories owned by the head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, spoke about how the interference in the upcoming American elections is taking place in Ukraine with the help of the CIA. According to the source, the purpose of the interference is to ensure Biden's victory over Trump. A former employee showed a video taken inside a troll factory, as well as several photos, guidelines and a list of accounts that trolls use to influence the American voters.
"Long story short we were asked to do everything to prevent Donald Trump from winning the elections. So basically, this topic was added to our main lines of work.
Since then, each of us had to post at least 3 to 5 posts daily posing as the Americas and Europeans, criticizing Donald Trump and praising Biden.
The Americans have even organized a few lectures for us to get a better understanding of American politics, the American mindset the main social and political issues.
Then we were occupied with the topics for the job which sounded like this:
1.Unlike Trump, Biden is a smart and experienced politician.
2. Unlike Trump, Biden will never betray NATO partners. Trump will alienate our partners.
3. Biden will not abandon Ukraine. Biden will protect democracy, while Trump is Putin's puppet.
I honestly tried to convince myself it's Okay since Biden is clearly a better option for Ukraine, but it was just too much for me... One thing is to work for the best interests of my country, but interfering in US politics is a whole other thing."
No One is Above the Lore "We have imported alien, violent, dark-age cultures that work hand in hand with our own native-born tyrants to drag us back to an even darker age. Forever. They must be vanquished and excised from our midst. If that means ditching the original Constitution to do so, then God help me, so be it." My latest essay over at Taki's Magazine. Please read and comment. [J.J. Sefton]
Author, historian and commentator Michael Walsh joins us in a wide ranging conversation centering on the twin evils of Leftism and Islam, the prospects for fighting both, predictions about the election, and so much more in a fast, free-wheeling and informative hour!
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, Here I Am at Intifada: "Are we willing to do whatever is necessary to preserve our freedom? The other side has clearly demonstrated what it is willing to do, and is actively doing, to take it away. That requires self-preservation 'by any means necessary.' As Allen Ludden (or Bert Convy) might say, the password is Revolution. Contemplating such a thing is unfathomable. But seeing New York City “fundamentally transformed” into Nuremberg-on-the-Hudson, the unfathomable quickly becomes not only fathomable but quite reasonable." My latest at Taki's Magazine. Please read and comment! [J.J. Sefton]
WTF?! New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial And yet Donald Trump was forced to pay off a psychotic liar and rape-fantasist for libel? A "libel" that accurately called her out as a liar for lying about him raping her in a Bergdorf's elevator? With the Alvin Bragg/Letitia James' Stalinist show trials still going on? It is to laugh. And vomit [J.J. Sefton]
CJN is shocked at how shocked Jews and other liberals are to discover anti-Semitism coming from the movement they supported for decades, while being somewhat heartened that maybe the scales are at last falling from their eyes. Happy Passover to all!
Ace: aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
CBD: cbd.aoshq at gee mail.com
Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com
